Oh, my dear,
Please learn from my mistakes.
Don’t do what I did.
Once, when I was studying at Cambridge, I asked a friend (a BRITISH FRIEND) to check and see if ‘I had a hole in my pants’.
I stood up, turned around, and bent over.
We had been sitting on a rough, wooden park bench and I thought I had ripped a tiny hole in my pants.
He laughed.
I laughed too, but I didn’t know why it was so funny.
And then he explained that ‘pants’ in the UK means ‘underwear’.
I did NOT want him to check my undies!!
I felt so stupid.
And this happened at CAMBRIDGE, which is full of SMART PEOPLE!
Here are a few simple things you should know about the difference between British and American English:
SPELLING:
British: colour, honour, labour, centre, analyse, criticise
American: color, honor, labor, center, analyze, criticize
VOCABULARY:
British: the boot of a car, pants, vest, loo, to let, chips
American: the trunk of a car, underwear, (DUH!), undershirt, bathroom, to rent, (French) fries
GRAMMAR:
British: Have you got…?
American: Do you have…?
British: I’ve just finished!
American: I just finished!
British: I haven’t done it yet.
American: I didn’t do it yet.
British: I dreamt about it last night.
American: I dreamed about it last night.
I hope this helps!
If you get confused, just say you’re Canadian! š
With love from Buffi (who will keep making mistakes in English only to help you laugh and learn!),
X
“In England, if you commit a crime, the police don’t have a gun and you don’t have a gun. If you commit a crime, the police will say “Stop, or I’ll say stop again.“Ā –Ā Robin Williams
